Retaining-ring.



No. 794,733., PATENTED JULY 18, 1905.

M. G. NEUNER. RETAINING RING.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 29.1904.

UNITED STATES rammed July 18,1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

RETAINING-RING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 794,733, dated July 18, 1905.

Application filed February 29, 190 Serial No. 195,723.

To all? whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN C. NEUNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Retaining-Ring, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ring designed for fastening together or retaining various articles-for instance, the leaves of a book; and the principal object of the invention is to provide a ring which when closed is a complete circle and which may be opened so as to break the continuity of the circle and at the same time not disturb the contour of the circle. It will be seen that in a loose-leaf book such a ring is of decided advantage for retaining the sheets, as it permits of the book being opened out, so that the sheets lie flat for easy inspection or writing upon, and the sheets may be turned over readily from one side of the opened book to the other and laid on either cover, and when the rings are opened as many sheets as desired may be removed from the pack of leaves on either side.

Ring-binders are now employed extensively, the rings of which when closed form a perfect circle, but which when opened destroy the continuity of the circle and form compound curves, which makes it impossible to r nove the sheets from one side of the opened book. This is avoided in the present invention.

The advantage of my construction is that when employed for retaining leaves, as in a book, the book may be opened out flat, as before stated, and leaves may be transferred readily from one side to the other, as desired, and with the rings open the leaves may be removed at pleasure from both sides of the book and as readily replaced on either side of the book.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention, and, referring to the same, Figure 1 is aview of the ring in side elevation closed. Fig. 2 is a perspective View illustrating the applicationof the ring to a book for' binding loose leaves together,- the book being shown open with the leaves lying flat. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the open book with the leaves removed and a portion of the underlying cover material broken away to illustrate the manner of fastening the rings with their supporting-bar in place on the cover. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the supporting-bar and three rings mounted thereon. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view through one of the rings of Fig. 4. v

The ring essentially comprises, as shown, a pair of segmental members, which are slidably mounted one with respect to the other and adapted to slip either way to close or open the ring. When the two members are closed, an unbroken circle is formed, and when the two members are open a broken circle or sector is formed. In either case the ring, whether complete or broken, considered as a whole, is perfectly circularthat is to say, its degree of curve is the same throughout the length.

In the preferred embodiment the ring comprises a member 1, which is tubular, and another member 2, which is a curved wire adapted to telescope or slide within the tubular member, each member being segmental or sector-like. It is obvious that the two members may be locked together in a variety of ways, which would readily suggest themselves to one skilled in the art but I prefer to dent the tubular member and form an inward projection 3 and to form a notch 4 in the other member, which is adapted to receive the projection 3. The natural spring of the parts yieldingly locks the parts firmly enough to prevent accidental unlocking.

When the ring is used for binding leaves together in a book,several rings may be sup ported on a bar 5, and the bar 5 may be fastened to the covers 6 of the book by pasting thereover a sheet of binding material 7, the binding material being slit at the points where the rings pass through it. I prefer to mount the tubular members of the rings on the bar 5, as'shown in Fig. 4, with the lower end terminating at one side or edge of the base, and to terminate the upper end of the tubular member at a point diametrically opposite or at one side of a vertical line drawn from the center of the supporting-bar, so that when the ring is opened, as indicated in Fig.

5, the resulting space will be central, or the space may be increased, so as to extend nearly half-way around one side of the ring, by simply pushing the wire back into the tubular portion, which will facilitate the insertion or removal of the leaves and will even permit of the removal or insertion of a bunch of them at one time. 'I he tubular portion is preferably a half-circle, and the wire portion is greater than a half-circle, so as to permit of forming the large opening, if desired, and yet have enough of the ends of the Wire remaining in the tubular portion at all times to form a strong support for the leaves. This construction Will also avoid the necessity of using studs or pins which project through slots in the tubular portion, as the solid or sliding portion may be grasped directly and manipulated, which is important in view of the fact that the tip or notched portion must be slightly pressed. or sprung inwardly or radially to cause the notch to engage with or disengage from the inwardly dented portion of the hollow member.

It is obvious that a ring such as herein disclosed may be employed in a variety of ways in binding leaves together and that it may also be employed for other purposes. I therefore contemplate the spirit of the invention as defined b the claims to cover the ringhowever employed in bindingloose leaves or for retaining other articles.

What I claim is l. A ring comprising a segmental tubular member, another segmental member slidably fitted in the tubular member, the tubular member having a dent forming an internal projection, the other member having a notch for engaging the projection.

2. A retaining device consisting of a bar and a plurality of rings mounted thereon, each ring comprising a segmental tubular member, one end of which terminates at one side of the bar, and the other end is dented inwardly, and a movable segmental member fitting in the tubular member and having its free end notched and adapted to enter the tubular member and engage with said indentation.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, this 19th day of February, 1904.

MARTIN C. NEUNER.

Witnesses:

GEORGE T. HAOKLEY, ARTHUR P. KNIGHT. 

